A Tale of Two Worlds
by Ida-Marie119
Summary: After a mysterious explosion during the battle in the Department of Mysteries, Harry and his friends find themselves transported into another world full of dwarves, orcs, elves and a completely different type of magic than what they're used to. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones there that fateful night.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own neither any of the characters, themes or places featured in "Harry Potter" or "The Lord of the Rings". They all belong to either J. K. Rowling or J. R. R. Tolkien.

* * *

Complete darkness.

The silence was deafening. Feeling the hard stone floor underneath her, the icy cold seeping through her thin sweater, she tried opening her eyes again yet darkness continued to engulf her. Afraid to move, she slowly searched the floor around her with her hands. Finally, her fingers connected with the smooth wooden surface of her wand.

_"Lumos"_, she whispered and light radiated from her wand to illuminate the expanse of the chamber. She was lying in the middle of an enormous hall, with crumbling stone pillars lining the walls and a battered wooden door on one side. Supporting herself with her hands, she slowly stood up and crossed the hall to the door. Tentatively, she gave it a tug and peeked out through the crack. Further darkness awaited her. Holding her wand out in front of her she walked out into a wide space filled with massive pillars that reached so high that she could not make out the top of the cavern. She was awestruck by the sheer enormity and craftsmanship of it, when she heard rapid footsteps advancing towards her.

She hid her wand and turning around, she beheld a cluster of figures running between the pillars towards her. Behind them, a fiery red glow was slowly filling the cavern and she felt a deep fear spreading inside her. Instinctively she spun around and ran away from the advancing light. The room was bathed in red light by the time she reached a small archway leading into another, more roughly hewn chasm, with stairs leading down into the dark abyss. She continued on, running down the stairs, through another pillar-lined hall, the footsteps behind her growing louder, until she reached a slim bridge. Hesitantly, she stepped out onto it and, growing more confident, she slowly crossed it. By the time she reached the other side, the figures were almost to the bridge. Curious, she ran up another flight of stairs and hid behind a pillar. From there she saw it.

Out of the glow emerged a monstrous fiery beast. Its black body and wings were consumed by flames and from its head loomed large horns. In its right hand, it carried a long whip. The figures hurriedly crossed the bridge yet halfway across, the last one stopped. To her astonishment, she watched the battle between the wizard, and a powerful one at that, and the monster until the bridge suddenly collapsed and they both fell down into the endless expanse below. "Gandalf!" one of the figures cried, before being dragged along by one of the others. She turned around and was about to hurry onwards when she saw the tall blonde man standing right behind her, aiming an arrow directly at her chest. "Who are you, human? Speak!" he demanded. Flustered and slightly intimidated, she was about to answer when his companions ran ahead down the hall one yelled back: _"Hurry! Legolas!"_.

Considering what to do, the man, whose name was apparently Legolas, cursed under his breath. He clasped the arm of this new appearance, and started pulling her in the direction, in which the others had disappeared. _"Come along. Make haste!"_

Soon, they were able to make out a faint light, growing nearer and nearer as they approached the passage that led out of what she discovered to be a mountain. They burst out onto a scarce rocky expanse, with the sun shining so brightly that she was temporarily blinded. As she slowly regained her vision, she was finally able to make out the features of the strange company properly. Legolas, the man holding her, was all but an ordinary man. With long blonde hair and pointed ears, he seemed too fair and graceful to be human. Near her, four children were huddled together, visibly distraught. Yet, although they were no taller than 8-year-olds, they looked older and had feet that were proportionally much too large for their small bodies. Close by, she beheld a likewise small yet clearly elderly and very plump dwarf with a large reddish beard and an axe that was as tall as himself. Standing next to him was a more normal looking, dark-blonde-haired man, who was arguing with the last member, who stood with his back to them. _"Aragorn!"_ Legolas called, still clenching her arm. The tall rugged man, with greasy black hair, similar to that of Professor Snape, yet less tidy, turned around and called back: _"What is it, Legolas? We must hurry on. These hills will be swarming with orcs by nightfall. Who is that?"_

_"I found her hiding inside the mine."_

Aragorn approached. _"Tell me, who are you?"_

Considering, whether she should give them her true name, she decided on the truth. She had always been told that she was a bad liar and seeing as she was clearly far from home, she saw no harm in telling them.

_"My name is Hermione Granger… and would you please let go of me?"_ she asked, glaring at Legolas. After looking at Aragorn for approval, he finally let go of her arm.

_"And what, Hermione, were you doing inside Moria? Surely that is no place for a human, especially not a woman."_

_"Uhm… I don't know… or I don't remember. I was with my friends one moment and the next thing I remember is waking up inside… that."_ Hermione said, pointing towards the entrance into the Mountain.

_"You were travelling in a company? How many of you were there?"_

_"We were six and we were looking for something… but then we were attacked –"_

_"By goblins?"_ Legolas questioned.

_"No… other humans. There was a battle and I think there was some kind of explosion. That's all that I remember."_

_"That is a strange tale."_ Aragorn said. _"I believe that it would be wisest for you to travel with us for a while. We were heading for Loríen. I am sure you could find refugee there until you discover what has become of your company."_

Just then, one of the small people called: _"Aragorn! There is someone lying by the river."_ When they came closer, Hermione spotted a pale figure, dressed completely in black, lying on its back by the riverbed. As she approached it, her stomach clenched upon realizing who it could be. If she had been transported to this strange place, then others who had participated in the fight may have too. She took out her wand, preparing to stun the figure in case it started moving. However, it lay completely motionless. Aragorn was kneeling next to it.

_"His breathing is shallow. He must have suffered a severe blow to the head."_ Aragorn stated, spotting the slight trickle of blood coming from the back of the figures head.

_"He dressed very strangely. Like her."_ She heard one of the small people said.

At that, she had reached the group and upon seeing who it was, she knelt down next to the boy. _"Malfoy?"_ she whispered.

_"Do you know him? Was he travelling with you?"_ Aragorn asked.

_"No. I mean yes. Yes, I know him but he is not supposed to be here. Malfoy!"_ she said, this time louder.

He seemed to stir slightly at the mention of his name and she saw his hand twitch. He appeared to be pointing at something across the river. Following the direction of his finger, she saw another black figure lying in a tree across the river. The only difference was that this one was wearing a mask. In order to assure that they were unconscious, she sent a stunning spell at the figure, the force of which caused it to fall out of the tree. She levitated the death eater across the small river and upon placing him on the bank near her; she bent down next to him. Assuring that he was dead, she removed the mask. _"Dolohov"_ she cursed. _"This isn't good. This isn't good at all."_ Hermione muttered trying to remember how many death eaters had been in the Department of Mysteries that night.

She then turned to find the others staring at her.

_"That was an impressive use of magic, lass."_ The dwarf said.

_"Extremely impressive and utterly impossible for a human. The ease and extent suggest that we are in the presence of none other than a witch. Yet there is no record of one such to date nor has one such as her ever existed. Where did you claim to be from?"_ Legolas stated, with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Hermione scowled at her carelessness. _"I'm didn't… I'm not from this place. At least I should think not considering that I haven't the slightest clue as to where this is. It seems as if I've been transported to another world, which sounds completely ridiculous. Yet I cannot find any other explanation for it. Nothing here looks familiar. And, I'm sorry, but those people –"_she said, pointing at the small ones _"–definitely do not exist in my world. I would have read about them somewhere. So, if I may ask, where am I?"_

_"Why, you are in Middle Earth, miss. On the eastern side of the Mines of Moria to be exact."_ One of the small people said. _"And most folk haven't heard of us so we won't take it as a slight that you haven't either. The name is Pippin by the way and these are Merry, Sam and Frodo of the Shire… Who is that?"_ Pippin inquired, pointing at Dolohov.

_"He was one of the people that attacked us. If he is here, then the rest may be here too. In my world, they're known as 'death eaters'. They strive to take over my world and kill all those that they see as impure and lesser."_

_"Can they perform magic like you?"_ Pippin asked.

_"Yes, but they're very dangerous and the dark magic that they use is very potent. They kill with a flick of their wand and they do not hesitate. Dolohov here is dead, but there may well be many more of them." _

_"In that case we must make haste. We must reach Lorien by nightfall and with this new danger added to those we already had before, we cannot afford to waste any time."_ Aragorn said strapping on some of the many clothes and packs he had taken off upon escaping the mountain.

_"What about him?"_ the one called Merry asked, nudging Malfoy with a large, hairy foot.

_"I shall carry him."_ Aragorn said and with that, they made away towards a forest that was visible a few kilometres away.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own neither any of the characters, themes or places featured in "Harry Potter" or "The Lord of the Rings". They all belong to either J. K. Rowling or J. R. R. Tolkien.

* * *

Ron regained consciousness to the sensation of falling. With a heavy thud and a groan, he landed on a green plain bathed in the warm light of the midday sun shining above him. Rubbing his back, he slowly stood up, and looked around. He was in the centre of a massive green expanse of rolling plains and rocky protrusions. _"Hermione?! Harry?! Ginny?!"_ he shouted, turning around. Yet there was no reply and his friends were nowhere in sight. _"Where the bloody hell am I?"_ he shouted.

In that moment, he spotted a large cluster of figures moving over the hills and the thunder of hooves, coming nearer at an alarming pace. Hurriedly, Ron sprinted to the nearest rocky alcove and hid, waiting for their approach.

* * *

When Luna awoke she was particularly intrigued to find herself staring up at the dark blue sky, when she clearly remembered having been in the Department of Mysteries just before. As her surroundings became clearer, she saw that she was lying in the dirt, in the middle of a cornfield. Getting up she found that the corn plants were taller than her, leaving her in a maze without knowing which way to go. That was until she heard the barks and growls of dogs and a deep male voice shouting: _"Who's that in my field? Get out! You young varmits! Always stealing my corn!" _and saw a large sickle moving through the field to her left. She took this as a sign to rush on and started heading in the opposite direction. That is, until she suddenly stumbled over a large form lying square across her path. He groaned when her foot connected with his side and, falling forward onto the ground, Luna turned around to see that the figure was none other the Neville._ "Neville, are you all right?"_ she asked. Grasping his shoulder and shaking him slightly, she called out to him again.

* * *

Ginny awoke to the sound of scuttling nearby. Alarmed, she gripped her wand and pointed it in the direction of the noise. _"Lumos"_, she whispered and gasped as the form of a giant spider was revealed to her. Noticing her for the first time, the spider turned towards her and clicked its fangs. With the speed that had taught her brothers not to cross her, Ginny shot a stunning spell at it, throwing it against a nearby pillar. Relieved, Ginny studied her surroundings. Broken pillars and archways surrounded her. It seemed to be some sort of old ruin. At that moment, she heard some more scuttling, coming closer from within a tunnel nearby. Swiftly, Ginny looked around for a way out of the ruin and finding no obvious path, she started running in the opposite direction of the spiders and found herself bounding over pieces of rubble and through crumbling walls and arches. At one point, she found herself suddenly standing at the edge of a pathway, with the earth slanting directly downward in front of her. Turning to the right, she soon made out the dark silhouette of a forest beyond the ruined castle. Wondering for a split second whether it was a good idea to go plunging into a forest, where spiders normally live, in the dark, she decided she had no choice and quickly sprinted over a narrow path leading to the edge of the treeline and into the woods. The trees seemed dark and somehow hostile. Luckily there was a, albeit overgrown, path leading from the castle and following it, she ran until she saw the path open up to a less thick part of the forest. Exhausted, Ginny found a tree lined with bushes, against which she slumped and almost instantly fell asleep.


End file.
